I am going to try to consistently post my meal plan for the week for you all.  Mostly because I do much better when I make a plan and posting makes me have a plan.  Yes, the plan may change and flex but having one in place helps keep peace at dinner time.  It also keeps us from hitting dinner time and reverting to bad habits.  All of these recipes are Paleo friendly and Whole 30 compliant (with the exception of the mongolian sauce which has a small amount of honey in it.)

Monday – Meatloaf

Tuesday – Paleo Chicken Cordon Bleu

Wednesday – Bacon Kale and Sweet Potato Soup

Thursday – Stir fry with Mongolian Sauce

Friday – Chicken “Non Noodle” Soup

Saturday – Ranch Chicken Sandwiches (I’ll be working on a Paleo Ranch Recipe to share.  Come back to get a link soon.)

Sunday – Citrus Pulled Pork

Linked to Meal Plan Monday

So I know you are all wondering…what did they eat on day 31? So I’m going to tell you.

For breakfast I had my almond milk latte, a banana and nuts.

Lunch was packed for our coop. I had a lettuce wrap sandwich same as the previous weeks and carrots. I also had a handful of potato chips. They tasted a little stale and not how I expected so I stopped there. Not worth it.

Dinner was steak, mushrooms and asparagus. I cooked the mushrooms in butter instead of coconut oil but only because I made the mistake of buying extra virgin coconut oil which tastes like coconut. Did I mention that I buy my coconut oil by the gallon? Learn from this my friends. I guess I’ll be using it in baking and smoothies and that I’ll be buying another gallon of the regular. The mushrooms weren’t any tastier because of the butter. When I get the right coconut oil, I’ll be using it again.

I also let myself have about 8 Cheetos. They were tasty but I made the decision to only have a small handful and stopped there. Before I would have had half a bag.

Lastly, I made gluten free rice crispy treats for Rowan’s cubbie class at church. I decided to try a small one. Guess what!! It wasn’t worth finishing. It just tasted a little stale. I then realized that it wasn’t the chips or treats that were stale, it was the change in my palette. They just weren’t as good as I remembered them to be. Having tried them, I have no desire to go back.

While I let myself try some things, I am happy to say that we didn’t really fall far off the wagon. The little step off was far enough to see that I wanted to stay on:-).

As I continue to blog about my life, meals will still be a highlight even though the Whole 30 is officially over. I want people to stay inspired to continue on this journey with me. We can help each other as we go.

So it is over. We made it 30 days. I’m not feeling the need to make much for changes. We feel good, are eating super tasty food, and are looking better. I’ll write a post about how we plan to transition out of the Whole 30 but for now I thought I’d leave you with what everyone wants to know. Ok so maybe you don’t care but I was curious.

In 30 days, I lost 11 pounds. I forgot to measure at the very beginning but from the measurements I did about 1 week, I am down 3-1/2 inches in the waist, 4 inches in the chest, and 3 inches in the hips. I am back to the weight I was before I got pregnant with Dresdan. I still have a little way to go before I hit where I was before I got pregnant with my sweet angel.

I am so happy with the changes. I have worked through power outages, snow days, house guests, illnesses, sleep deprivation, and other craziness with minimal problems. I had a few emotional days but was so much more able to deal. That’s a big deal when you are a homeschooling mom of 5!!! This is doable as a lifestyle not just a diet.

I want to encourage all of you that are on this journey or thinking about starting it. Your life will only get better!!! you can do it. In 30 days, you can change your life. Thank you Melissa and Dallas at Whole9 for everything you have put into this program.

This is it!!! Day 30 is finally here. I can’t believe we have made it and without major cravings. I feel so accomplished. We had actually wanted to do the Whole 30 back in October but I was too scared. I looked at it as a form of torture. Hey just being honest here. Now that we are in the last day, I look ahead and forward to eating this way for life. I see many Whole 15, 30, & 45′s in our future.

We finished off the Whole 30 with a Thantastic almond milk latte. Shout out to my man for making the best lattes ever!!!

Then we took off on our exercise date. We thought about hiking Rattlesnake but felt more like meandering. Not a huge effort. Then the adventure bug but us and we turned off on a well used yet unmarked trail. We had no idea where it went but were determined to find out. We ran into a man that told us we were just half hour from the Cedar Butte summit. Sweet!!! Just before we started the final climb, we caught a beautiful view.

Maybe you can pick out Rattlesnake ledge to the right of the lake. Yup we climbed just as high as if we had done Rattlesnake. So much for a leisurely walk!?! The whole hike was gorgeous. And so was my man!!! Te-He.

What a view from the summit!!! We didn’t really get to stay long as our 1 hour walk turned into a two hour hike.

So I noticed that I did bonk a little mid hike. I should have at least grabbed some nuts for fuel. Of course I wasn’t planning on quite the adventure. Need to take note of the need for more fuel when taxing my muscles more. This journey is all about learning how our bodies function best right?!

I had leftover taco salad for lunch. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted but it was fast and easy. I think it was the lack of ripe avocado that was the missing component.

Than and I went out to dinner after tap class to tonight. We split a burger and sweet potato fries. We also found a yummy chicken curry salad on the menu. We had never noticed it before. Funny how I get into a rut. It had a kick to it. We will definitely get it again.

Thank you for joining me on my Whole 30 journey. I plan to continue posting many of my meals and more about my life. Be watching for my Whole 30 Wrapup and how the Whole 30 will transition into normal life.